How August became back-to-school season in Richmond

• Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover public schools are all doing staggered starts beginning Aug. 24.

The big picture: America's back-to-school season now stretches nearly two months, from mid-July to mid-September.

• Nearly half of all of U.S. public schools opened by Aug. 16 this year, according to dates compiled by MDR Education, and 4 in 5 will open before Sept. 1.
• Geography, state law and local decisions all play a role: Nearly all public schools in the Deep South open before Aug. 16; in New England, almost none do.

Zoom in: For decades, Virginia law required schools to wait until after Labor Day unless they qualified for a waiver — a restriction commonly known as the "Kings Dominion law," a nod to the theme park and broader tourism industry that lobbied for years to stretch the summer season.

• Lawmakers loosened that rule in 2019, allowing most districts to start up to two weeks before Labor Day.
• And as of July 1, a new state law allows districts to start as early as 14 days before Sept. 1 — Aug. 18 this year — without a waiver.

Between the lines: Earlier starts can give districts more room for breaks, add more instructional time before standardized tests and allow the first semester to end before winter break.

Yes, but: Richmond Public Schools is already experimenting with a much more dramatic calendar shift.

• Students at the four elementary schools that participate in RPS 200 — an extended school year program that adds 20 days to the instructional calendar — returned in late July.

What we're watching: Whether Virginia's newly loosened start-date law pushes more Richmond-area districts toward mid-August starts in future years.